Domestic refrigeration appliance with removable shelf supports

ABSTRACT

A domestic refrigeration appliance, in particular a refrigerator, provided with a preservation compartment having interior side walls and shelves disposed on supports, the supports being removably connectable to predetermined points of the interior side walls. The supports can include slotted tubular extensions for insertion into the openings of the interior side walls. Bushes may be provided in the openings of the interior side walls to insertably receive the slotted tubular extensions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a refrigeration appliance, such as a refrigerator, provided with removable supports for its shelves.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] In traditional refrigerators the internal shelves rest on projecting support bars formed within the inner lining of the refrigeration appliance. These supports are provided in a larger number than the shelves to enable the user to arrange these at the most suitable height. The number and size of these supports negatively affects the useful capacity of the refrigeration appliance and raises hygiene problems as the supports (not being removable) cannot be thoroughly cleaned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In one aspect, the present invention relates to a refrigeration appliance having a plurality of interior walls with a plurality of openings. The openings can be fitted with bushes (bushings). A plurality of removable shelving supports can have one or more extensions for insertion into the interior wall openings. The extensions are adapted for receiving a plurality of support pegs. The pegs can be of the lockable type.

[0006] In another aspect, the invention relates to a refrigeration appliance having a pair of interior side walls, a plurality of bushes mounted in the side walls, and a plurality of removable shelving supports having at least two tubular extensions for insertion into the bushes. A plurality of locking pegs can be provided for insertion into the tubular extensions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The invention will be better understood from the description of a preferred embodiment thereof given hereinafter by way of non-limiting example and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of the preservation compartment of a refrigerator, the compartment being provided (on a vertical wall) with removable supports for shelves;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a partial perspective exploded view of a support and the means enabling it to be mounted on the walls of the preservation compartment of a refrigeration appliance;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a partial section on the line III-III of FIG. 1;

[0011]FIG. 4 is a view showing by transparency a support together with two vertical sections through the points at which the support is connected to the wall of the compartment of the refrigeration appliance (the sections in question correspond essentially to the section III-III of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] With reference to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 indicates overall a domestic refrigeration appliance, of which FIG. 1 shows part of the relative preservation compartment 3 bounded by horizontal and vertical walls; these latter comprise an end wall and two side walls 2. In the figure it can be seen that one of the side walls carries two substantially bar-like removable supports 4 for the conventional shelves on which the products to be cooled in the compartment are rested. These bar-like supports 4 are provided, in two well defined positions, with axially slotted tubular extensions 5 (see FIGS. 2, 3, 4) which are inserted into bushes 6 mounted in the side walls 2 and embedded in the insulation 7 of the refrigeration appliance. Removable fixing to the bushes 6 is achieved by a divaricable (extractable) peg 8 which is inserted into the slotted tubular extensions 5 to divaricate them by the amount necessary to ensure stability but without affecting the removability of the divaricable peg 8 and hence of the support 4, so enabling it to be located at different heights and to be thoroughly cleaned.

[0013] In detail, the bush 6 embedded in the insulation 7 preferably comprises a fixing head 9 formed (FIG. 3) from three mutually perpendicular ribs 9 a, 9 b and 9 c. The bush 6 also comprises a socket part 10, flanged about its periphery 19 and forming at its base a slight annular undercut 12. The bushes 6 could take on other forms and shapes, or not be present at all. If not present, the interior walls of the refrigeration appliance could simply have a plurality of openings to insertably receive the shelving support extensions 5. The extensions are preferably slotted and tubular.

[0014] The extractable divaricable peg 8 preferably comprises a head 8 a and a shank 8 b terminating with a slight enlargement 8 c which divaricates the end of the slotted tubular extension 5 shaped for the purpose. The peg 8 could take on other forms and shapes as well.

[0015] At the peg 8 the substantially bar-like support 4 presents a lower recess 11 (FIGS. 1 and 2) to offer the user a comfortable position to exert traction force on the peg 8 in order to extract it from the tubular appendix 5 and hence enable the bar-like support 4 to be removed.

[0016] The bar-like support 4 possesses the two stated characteristics, namely the presence of the two slotted tubular appendices 5 and the recesses 11 by which access to the peg 8 is facilitated. For the remainder, the support can have any shape suitable for its shelf support function. Generally, such a support can have a horizontal ledge-like supporting part (indicated by A in FIGS. 2 and 4) and a vertical part (indicated by B in FIGS. 2 and 4) applied to the liner 2. The manner of mounting and removing the support 4 is apparent from the aforegoing. For mounting, the two tubular extensions 5 of the support 4 are inserted (with slight forcing) into the bushes 6 embedded in the insulation 7. The pegs 8 are then totally inserted into the tubular extensions, so locking the support 4 to the structure of the refrigeration appliance. When the user requires a different positioning of a shelf, the pegs 8 are removed, the tubular extensions extracted from the bush and the support 4 brought to the desired height to coincide with two suitably plugged bushes 6, from which the plugs are then removed and tubular extensions 5 of the support located in them, the support then being locked by fully inserting the pegs 8. The bar-like support can be thoroughly cleaned by virtue of its removal.

[0017] While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation, and the scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit. 

We claim:
 1. A domestic refrigeration appliance comprising a preservation compartment having vertical walls, supports, and shelves disposed on said supports, wherein said supports are removably connectable to predetermined points of said vertical walls.
 2. The domestic refrigeration appliance of claim 1, wherein said supports include slotted tubular extensions.
 3. The domestic refrigeration appliance of claim 2, wherein said vertical walls include fixed bushes to insertably receive said slotted tubular extensions.
 4. The domestic refrigeration appliance of claim 3, further comprising a plurality of locking pegs for insertion into said slotted tubular extensions.
 5. The refrigeration appliance of claim 4, wherein said supports include recesses to facilitate access to the locking pegs for their removal.
 6. The refrigeration appliance of claim 5, wherein said supports are substantially bar-like with a horizontal part projecting from a vertical part to be applied to the vertical wall of the preservation compartment.
 7. A refrigeration appliance comprising: a plurality of interior walls having a plurality of openings; a plurality of removable shelving supports having one or more extensions for insertion into the openings; and a plurality of pegs for insertion into the one or more extensions.
 8. The refrigeration appliance of claim 7, wherein the plurality of interior walls are opposite side walls.
 9. The refrigeration appliance of claim 7, further comprising a plurality of bushes disposed within the plurality of openings.
 10. The refrigeration appliance of claim 7, wherein the one or more extensions are tubular in shape and slotted.
 11. The refrigeration appliance of claim 7, wherein the plurality of removable shelving supports include a plurality of recesses to facilitate access to the plurality of pegs.
 12. The refrigeration appliance of claim 7, wherein the plurality of interior walls are opposite side walls, wherein the one or more extensions are tubular in shape and slotted, wherein the plurality of removable shelving supports include a plurality of recesses to facilitate access to the plurality of pegs, and wherein the refrigeration appliance further comprises a plurality of bushes disposed within the plurality of openings.
 13. A refrigeration appliance comprising: a pair of interior side walls; a plurality of bushes mounted in the side walls; a plurality of removable shelving supports having at least two tubular extensions for insertion into the bushes; and a plurality of locking pegs for insertion into the tubular extensions.
 14. The refrigeration appliance of claim 13, wherein the plurality of removable shelving supports include one or more recesses to facilitate access to one or more of the plurality of locking pegs.
 15. The refrigeration appliance of claim 13, wherein the pair of interior side walls are opposite each other.
 16. The refrigeration appliance of claim 13, wherein the plurality of locking pegs include a shank section, a head section on one end of the shank section, and an enlarged section on the other end of the shank section. 